Hello Again
by Embre Falling
Summary: Nina comes back to Anubis House, but everything's different. Nina/Fabian, Fabian/Mara.
1. Chapter 1

Nina was sitting in a café at the airport, waiting for her flight to England to arrive.

The café was busy, people milling about, swapping stories and eating sandwiches. Nina cast a lazy eye over them all, too nervous about getting back to England to really pay attention. Her fingers drummed the tabletop and she glanced at the board showing the flight times. The one going to Liverpool wasn't going to arrive for another two hours.

Nina sighed and checked her text messages.

Three hours ago, she had sent a text to both Amber and Fabian telling them that she was getting ready to board the plane. Five _days_ ago she had sent them each at least six messages saying she had been reaccepted into Frobisher Boarding School and would be going back this year after all.

They hadn't responded to any of them.

Frustrated, Nina tried sending a text to Patricia again, but it bounced back, as usual.

Nina collapsed into her chair and groaned. She hadn't talked to Fabian or Amber or _any_ of the Sibuna members in over a year, and she was really missing them. Being close to the Osirian was no longer an issue. Sarah had showed her—all she needed to do was find the Shield of Bast, wear it around her neck, and everything would be okay.

If only she was able to get in touch with _someone_ so she could tell them she was coming.

To distract herself, she pulled out a few papers from her purse. They were forms she had received in the mail six days prior, forms that she hadn't really bothered looking over until now. They said the same thing every year she got them: they were the papers detailing her admission to the English boarding school.

Having nothing else to do, Nina skimmed over them. _**Uniform required at all times when class is in session… too many unexcused absences from class will result in a failed grade… curfew at ten o'clock pm every night…**_

Till she saw something that made her pause.

**Boarding Assignment: House of Sekhmet. **

Nina Martin spat out her water, blinked hard, and read it again.

**Boarding Assignment: House of** **Sekhmet.**

There had to be some mistake. She wasn't in the House of _Sekhmet_. She was in the House of _Anubis_. She had been for two years.

Nina looked frantically to the top of the paper, to confirm she hadn't been given someone else's forms by mistake. But nope. _**Martin, Nina, **_read the name at the top.

Nina felt sick to her stomach.

Scrambling in her purse to find her phone, Nina then scrolled through her contacts until she found Fabian's. She hit _call _and put the phone up to her ear. She didn't care that they were on separate continents and that the bill would be through the roof. She needed to talk to him. Now.

"You've reached Fabian Rutter. Sorry I can't come to the phone right now…"

"Damn it, Fabian," Nina hissed, hanging up.

Next she tried Amber. It went through to voice mail also.

Her eyes blurred, frustration making them water. Were they ignoring her? She knew she had given them cold shoulder all last year, but really, she was just doing it to protect them all…

The phone buzzed and she jumped. Amber.

She flipped it open and practically yelled into it. "Amber?"

"NINAAA!" Came the loud screech on the other end, making Nina jerk away. "Oh _my_ god, it's Nina!"

Nina allowed herself a small smile, opening her mouth to speak, but she was quickly cut off. "Nina, I love you, but seriously. Does it take ten seconds to pick up a phone? Where _have_ you _been_?"

"Never mind that now," Nina said hurriedly. "Amber, I'm coming back!"

There was silence.

"I assume you mean to Anubis House," Amber said slowly. "Where I am no longer a resident."

"You're no longer _what?"_ Nina repeated, eyebrows shooting up and heart sinking. She listened to Amber explain the long story. Mystery… blackmail… fashion school…

"So, anyway, I haven't talked to Sibuna in, like, a million years," Amber finished. "How are the guys doing? How's _Fabian_?"

"Amber, I don't know," Nina sighed. "I can't get in touch with them."

"They're probably ignoring you," Amber said wisely. "As you ignored us. But don't worry. Fabian will forgive you as soon as he sees your face." She sighed. "Trust me,"

"I hope you're right," Nina said. There was a bing and she looked up. "Amber, my plane's come in. Talk to you later?"

"Promise to call?"

"Definitely." Nina said. Then, "Amber, I'm sorry. For ignoring you."

"You better be," Amber said. "But don't worry too much about it. You go and have loads of fun with Sibuna, okay?"

"I'll try," Nina said.

* * *

"There's got to be some mistake."

"Miss Martin, I assure you, there is no-"

"But I'm in the House of Anubis," Nina interjected. She glanced down at the file in front of them, jabbing her finger on the paper. "And it says here, House of Sekhmet. So obviously there's been some sort of mistake."

Mr. Sweet sighed loudly, leaning forward in his chair to put his head in his hands. "Miss Martin, you were in the House of Anubis two years ago. In your absence, two new members have arrived. The house is full, there is no room for you, I am sorry, but that's the way it is."

"But-"

"_Miss Martin_," Mr. Sweet said warningly.

Nina groaned, stuffing the paper that had her house assignment into her bag. "Fine," She muttered, turning to leave.

"And Miss Martin?"

Nina glanced at him, her hand on the doorknob.

"Sekhmet House is that way, by the east side of the school. Next to the forest. Just in case you didn't know."

Nina resisted the urge to poke her tongue out at him, and nodded begrudgingly. "Thanks."

The school was dark and nearly empty as Nina made her way back to the grounds from Mr. Sweet's office. She hadn't been to the school in over a year-thanks to various complications with her Gran's health and changes with the scholarship terms, she hadn't been able to afford it-but now she was back, and ready to make up for the year she had lost.

Except, of course, that she had been placed in the House of Raand not in the House of Anubis with all her old friends.

Nina sagged against the wall. Her hand automatically went to her neck, feeling for the locket that wasn't there. She had given it to Eddie.

Outside, the England air was chilly. She pulled her jacket tighter around herself, not used to this weather after a year of being in Florida. Kids were running about with their suitcases, calling out to friends and hugging. She let her gaze wander over them. There was no one she recognized.

She dropped her gaze to her suitcase. She'd drop this off at Sekhmet first, and then she'd go over to Anubis. Just to say hi.

* * *

"You must be Nina!"

The woman who opened the door grinned broadly at her. She was tall and dark-skinned, with a thin frame that looked nothing like Trudy Rehmann. "I'm Alma, your housemother! Everyone's already here, just bring your stuff upstairs, there's a room for you on the left."

Nina edged her way inside and looked around. It was the same layout as Anubis, a little newer, maybe. It didn't have the old, mysterious feel. The wood railing was normal and Eye of Horus-less. Nina could feel disappointment burning in her stomach.

"This your first year, sweetie?" Alma said, leading her upstairs. She smelled like cleaner. Not like chocolate cookies, which was something Trudy always baked their first day back.

"Sure," Nina muttered, not in the mood to explain.

A girl appeared on the edge of the staircase, her bushy red hair trailing after her like a shadow. "Nina!" She shrieked. "You're Nina, right? You must be. Hi, I'm Olivia. Nice to see a new face, you're new, huh?" Her eyes fell on Nina's red-and-white striped bracelet. "And American! Brilliant! Never had an American in the house before. Is it nice, the States?"

"Um," Nina found herself grinning, "It is. Very nice."

"Brilliant. Hi, I'm Olivia." She extended her hand. "Already said that, didn't I? Oopsies. Always doing that. Anyway, American. Wow. You're Jamie's roomie. Not mine, unfortunately, I've got Em—"

"Alright, alright, let her breathe," Alma said, laughing. "Olivia, why don't you go unpack? Leave this girl to rest. She's had a long flight."

"Right you are," Olivia said, shaking Nina's hand hard and spinning around. "Jamie, your roomie's here! Go meet her!"

A girl Nina assumed was Jamie poked her head around the corner, looking grumpy. "An American. Yay." She glared at Nina for a second before disappearing back around the corner.

Alma patted Nina's shoulder reassuringly. "She'll warm up to you. Just wait."

But Nina only felt saddened. She missed Patricia. She missed Amber. She missed…

A boy ran onto the landing, with dark messy hair and a tan coat. Her heart sped up. Fabian—

But it wasn't Fabian. It was another boy, with brown eyes and a thin scar across his eyebrow. "Hi." He said, his gaze rocketing from Alma to Nina.

Nina smiled. "Hey."

The boy wasn't anything like Fabian, Nina realized quickly. He was slightly muscled and wearing a rock band t-shirt underneath his coat, but his smile was kind, and Nina found herself relaxing.

"I'm Peter,"

"Nina," She said shyly.

He smiled quickly. "Yeah, I figured."

"Peter is really smart and plays football," Olivia said. She had reappeared at Nina's shoulder. She gave Nina a very exaggerated wink.

Nina could do nothing but smile numbly. "Well, I'll, um, go put this in my room," She said, gesturing to her suitcase. "And then I need to go, um, see someone at the school. So catch you guys later." She darted off.

Trudging to the other side of the grounds took a considerable amount of time. Nina played with her phone while she walked, checking her email and shooting another text Fabian's way. No reply. If he wasn't going to talk to her, she'd have to come to him.

She sped up.

She turned a corner and Anubis House came into view. The familiar thrill of excitement shot through her, along with a sliver of anxiety. She shoved it away. It wasn't her fault she had to leave. If Fabian and the others weren't going to acknowledge her return, she'd have to make them.

She faltered when she saw a dark-skinned, bushy-haired girl approach.

"Oh, hello!" The girl smiled warmly at her. "Are you a new student?"

"Oh, no," Nina said quickly. "I'm just here to visit someone."

The girl had an American accent, and judging from the way she was steps away from Anubis House she was probably a resident there. Nina felt jealousy burn in her stomach.

"I'm KT," She said, smiling. "Who are you here to visit?"

Nina hesitated. "Um, Fabian Rutter?"

"Oh, Fabian," KT's smile widened. "He and Mara should be here soon- they rode in together, she just sent me a text."

"Mara?" Nina replied blankly.

"Jaffray," KT clarified. "His girlfriend?"

Nina's heart plummeted. "G-girlfriend?"

"Yeah," KT looked curiously at her. "You okay?"

Nina stumbled back, her stomach lurching, her eyes hot. "I have to go,"

"Oh—wait," KT called to Nina's retreating back. "What's your name?"

Nina didn't answer.

She pushed her way through the school parking lot, her eyes blurring and her throat clogging up. Girlfriend? Of all people, _Mara_? When did they even start hanging out with each other?

That explained why Fabian wasn't answering her calls. Mara. She couldn't believe it.

Minutes later she had reached the Sibuna clearing. She collapsed on a log and cried, letting the tears rip out of her and fall onto the ground. She made no effort to stem their flow. She had thought everything would magically fix itself once she got back to England, but now she saw it was all wishful thinking. She had ruined everything by leaving. She just wanted everything to go back to the way it was.

* * *

**A/N: *Fringe reference, boo yah***

**So that was written horribly, but apparently I need to start writing again, so who cares? Please review if you liked it, and if you didn't can you offer some suggestions to make it better? I'd really appreciate it, thank you!**


	2. Chapter 2

"Fabian," She said, her voice slightly choked and watery, "I'm really sorry. But please stop ignoring me. I know you're listening to this. Fabian, please—" Her voice broke and she wrenched the phone away from her ear, hitting **end call** and dropping it on the ground. She curled up in bed, breathing hard.

She waited, but he didn't call her back.

The door creaked open. "Are you okay?" Olivia asked softly. "I heard crying."

Nina raised her eyes and wiped them hastily on her sleeve. "Me? I'm fine. It's just—um—allergies."

Olivia nodded and stood at the door, her mouth open as if she wanted to say something else. Eventually she just turned around and went away.

Nina didn't get much sleep that night.

* * *

The next day was Sunday, and rather than spending the morning cooped up in her room sniveling like an idiot Nina decided to _do_ something about it.

So that's how she found herself knocking hard on the door of Anubis House at eight o'clock in the morning.

The door opened and Eddie poked his head out, squinting in the harsh sunlight. His hair was messed up and he was in his pjs. "Nina?" He muttered sleepily. "It's still the weekend. What are you—" His eyes widened. "Wait—Nina?"

"Miss me?" Nina said weakly.

Eddie's face split into a big grin and he leapt forward and hugged her hard around the middle. "Why didn't you call? –Oh, wait, sorry, you can't have. Evil Patricia broke my phone." He pulled away.

Nina smiled, puzzled. "Evil…?"

"Later." Eddie ushered her in and shut the door. "Fabian's still asleep. I can wake everyone up if you want…?"

"No," Nina said quickly. "Let them—let them sleep."

They took a seat on the couches in the common room. Eddie couldn't stop grinning. "Wow, it's so weird to have you back."

"It's weird to be back," Nina said. She hesitated, then her smile faltered. "Are they all mad at me?"

"No," Eddie frowned. "Why would they be mad at you?"

"They haven't been answering their phones," Nina said lowly.

"Oh, that," Eddie said. "There was a bit of an incident last year. Everybody turned evil and had a phone-smashing contest in the school hallway."

Nina wasn't sure if he was being serious.

"Don't believe me? Look, I'll go get Fabian," Eddie said, and before she could stop him (not that she wanted to stop him) he leapt off the couch.

While Nina waited she fingered the fabric. Her heart was pounding uncontrollably. Fabian. How long had it been? Weeks? Months?

A year.

There was a noise out in the hallway, and Nina's head shot up, staring at the door with rapt attention.

"What is it, Eddie?" Came Fabian's sleepy voice. "It's Sunday. Can't you just wait another—"

"You'll want to see this," said Eddie and then—

Fabian was there.

He was the same. Gray bathrobe, ruffled hair (new haircut), blue eyes, confused expression. Nina felt her heart pick up just looking at him. Her impulse was to run over and wrap him in her arms and never let go.

But she didn't.

"Nina,"

Nina tried to smile, but her heart was beating so fast it was hard to focus on anything else. "Hey," She said softly.

Fabian shifted his weight, his eyes never straying from her face. "Nina," He breathed and then he was walking forward and she was walking forward and they were running and she smacked into him and buried her head in his shoulder and breathed in the smell of him and he was holding her tight—

"I'll just go back to my room," Eddie coughed.

Nina let out a laugh and pulled away slightly, her fingers clutching Fabian's elbows, keeping him close to her. "Wow, I missed you."

"Yeah," He agreed. Then, "Hey, why are you crying?"

Nina laughed again, a choked, hoarse laugh and pulled him to her again. "Sorry," She muttered into his bathrobe. "Just getting a little emotional."

Someone coughed behind them.

Nina and Fabian jumped away from each other, fixing their clothes on impulse and avoiding each other's gaze. To Nina's horror it was Mara standing there, Mara in her slippers and pink pajamas, Mara glaring at her with guarded eyes and a hurt expression.

Fabian looked uneasy. "Sorry, we were just—"

"Nina," Mara interrupted. "Nice to have you back."

Then she sucked in her cheeks and turned around, heading to the kitchen.

Nina made a face. "Guess you better go talk to her."

Fabian looked torn. He glanced from Nina to the kitchen and then sighed and started toward Mara. "Sorry," He said to Nina, walking away. "It's just, she's my—"

"I get it," Nina muttered. "She's your girlfriend."

* * *

"…And _then_, Frobisher got this big book out and this dark mist came out of it and covered the whole place…"

"Oh really?" Nina said, pushing eggs around with her fork.

She had been invited to breakfast. The whole table was either reminiscing the events of last term or doing their best to not listen and forget about it. Patricia and Alfie were nodding intently, adding to the conversation whenever possible, but Eddie and KT were telling most of the story.

"…and then Frobisher…"

But Nina tuned out, watching Fabian and Mara from across the table. They seemed to have made up, because he was smiling a lot and she was nudging him with her shoulder. Every so often he would glance up and smile quickly at Nina, then drop his gaze down to Mara again. Nina tried to distract herself by observing the other couples, like Joy and Jerome talking avidly to each other and Alfie and Willow taking turns blowing milk bubbles.

So much had changed.

Nina didn't like it.

"…And then we went out to see the fireworks." Eddie finished.

"So where are you staying, Nina?" Joy asked, turning briefly away from Jerome.

"Sekhmet." Nina answered, picking at her muffin.

Willow clapped. "Oooh, do you know Peter? He lives there. He's very nice."

"Yeah, he's nice." Then, noticing Fabian's face, she said a bit louder, "He's cute, too."

Everyone looked at each other awkwardly.

"Fabian," Mara said suddenly, smiling a big smile and shifting in her seat to face him. "How about we go see a show next Saturday?"

"Er—"

"Jerome, Joy," Mara turned to them. "You can come too if you like. And Nina- bring Peter."

"What about us?" Alfie asked, whining a bit.

Mara made an apologetic face. "Sorry Alfie. This isn't really your sort of movie."

"We can go see the one about the aliens, Alfie," Willow said.

"You know what?" Nina said. "I'll come. It'll be fun." She shot a forced smile at Fabian, who smiled a weak one back, and Mara's smile outshined them all. "And I'll bring Peter with me."


	3. Chapter 3

Patricia was scowling at her.

Nina noticed this halfway through the meal. It was one of Patricia's glares that she usually reserved for Eddie, only without the affection. Nina avoided her eye and pushed her eggs around with her fork. Between Fabian and Mara and an unforgiving Patricia, she was losing her appetite.

Patricia stopped her on the way out the door. "You're not staying?"

"No," Nina said. "I should get back to my house. Meet everyone." She glanced up at Patricia quickly and turned to leave.

Patricia grabbed her shoulder. "You've got some nerve, you know that?"

Nina laughed uneasily. "What?"

"You just _left,_" Patricia said. "No emails, no texts, no freaking phone calls. Do you know how many times Fabian called you? Do you know how many texts Amber sent asking if you were okay?"

"Yeah, I do, actually," Nina said quietly.

"Brilliant," Patricia spat. "Then you know what you did to deserve _this."_

And she emptied her cup of orange juice onto Nina's head.

Nina stood there silently with orange juice dripping into her eyes.

At the sound three people scurried into the entrance hall, one of them being Fabian, who said, loudly: "_Patricia!"_

"Oh, by the way," Patricia said sweetly, leaning in close to Nina. "That Osirian can't be near the Chosen One bullshit? Not true. I know what was really going on."

She turned to Fabian, Alfie and Eddie. "Been on her page recently?"

"Patricia," Nina warned, her heart sinking.

Patricia shot a smile at her. "Because I have. And what I saw shocked me."

She slid her (brand new) cell phone from her pocket and started to key in something. She waited for it to load and handed it to Fabian. "I think you'll be interested in seeing this."

Fabian looked at it. "It's some random guy's page."

"Exactly," Patricia smirked. "I went through Nina's list of friends from America, hoping they would help me get in touch with her, and you know what I found?" She jabbed her finger at the screen. "This guy's page says he was dating her for a month."

Fabian looked quickly at Nina, who was paling. Then he glanced back at Patricia. "Okay, so she moved on. I did too. So?"

Patricia grabbed the phone from him and scrolled down. "Dylan Comier is now dating Nina Martin, date: August 6, 2012." She glanced up at Fabian to see his reaction.

Fabian swallowed. He kept his eyes on Patricia's phone, not looking up at Nina. "You were dating someone before we even broke up?"

"Fabian," Nina protested. "It wasn't like that."

"Bullshit," Patricia said. "So what was it, Nina? You got sick of Fabian? Felt too guilty to come back to Anubis?"

"I didn't get sick of _anyone!_" Nina shrieked.

The rest of the house was appearing from the kitchens, curious to what the noise was about. Nina was furiously red, still dripping orange juice all over the floor. "Honestly, Fabian, it wasn't-"

"Joy," Patricia interrupted. "Get me another glass of orange juice from the kitchen, please?"

"Patricia," Joy said, "That's really not-"

She looked at Nina, fell silent, and went to do as Patricia asked. When she returned she gave it reluctantly to Patricia, who shoved it at Fabian. "Go on, do it."

Everyone waited.

Fabian looked down at the glass in his hand, then looked up at Nina. "I'm not going to dump this on Nina's head."

"Why not? She deserves it,"

"Fabian," Nina said quietly. "It wasn't like what you're thinking. Honest it wasn't."

"Just-don't, okay?" Fabian said, just as quietly.

Nina shut her eyes so she didn't have to see Fabian's face as he slowly walked up to her and dumped the whole thing on her head.

"There," Patricia said cheerfully. "Don't you feel better?"

"Just shut _up, _Patricia," Fabian muttered, and when Nina opened her eyes he was shoving the glass at Patricia and turning away. Mara hurried after him.

"I wasn't going to tell him," Patricia said. "But I think he deserves to know."

"You're a real bitch, Patricia," Nina spat, spraying orange juice out of her mouth.

* * *

"Holy shit. What happened to you?"

"Don't ask," Nina said, walking past Peter and heading to her bedroom. She grabbed a towel and some clean clothes and headed to the bathroom. Only when she was in the shower, water running down her back, did she allow herself to cry.

She didn't know how the thing with Dylan had happened, really.

She was just feeling bad that Fabian couldn't visit her in America, and then she received the news she couldn't come back to the house or else bad things would happen with her and Eddie, and Dylan reminded her so much of Fabian with his dorky science textbooks and library books that she had just let him kiss her.

She hadn't ever meant for anyone to find out. Even Gran didn't know.

And now Fabian would probably never speak to her again.

* * *

**A/N: Okay. I did not plan this. I am honestly sorry. I swear, I had no idea that was going to happen**

**Review please? It makes me happy.**

**ok**

**that was horrible ok bye**


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